Chengjiang’s fossils present the most complete record of an early Cambrian marine community with exceptionally preserved biota, displaying the anatomy of hard and soft tissues in a very wide variety of organisms, invertebrate and vertebrate.

They record the early establishment of a complex marine ecosystem. The site documents at least sixteen phyla and a variety of enigmatic groups as well as about 196 species, presenting exceptional testimony to the rapid diversification of life on Earth 530 million years ago, when almost all of present major animal groups emerged. It opens a significant window for the paleontological study. 

The Origin of Life

 The earth was created in 4.6 billion years ago; 800 million years later, signs of life appeared on the earth; after another 300 million years, the earliest single-celled organisms-cyanobacteria appeared in the ocean. In the next billions of years, the earth has maintained a monotonous state of life. 

World Nature Hritage--Chengjiang Fossil Site

Chengjiang Fossil Land is the first fossil world heritage in China and the only fossil world heritage in Asia. As the earliest evidence of the Cambrian explosion – the rapid diversification of species within a complex marine ecosystem - they have become essential to the understanding of subsequent life on Earth.

The discovery and research of Chengjiang fossils is an important stage in the history of world paleontology. The Chengjiang Fossil Site was known by the scientific community as the "Holy Place of Paleontology", the "World Treasure House of Fossils.